Musical chime construction



Dc. 24, 1946. l G. R. FISH 2,412,978

MUS ICAL CHIME CONSTRUCTION Filed Feb. 14, 1945 2 Sheets-Sheet l Dec.24, 1946.

G. R. FISH 2,412,978

MUSICAL CHIME CONSTRUCTION Filed Feb. 14, 1945 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 4* C3634- z/C/ /9 l 29a. Z4 24- INVENTOR Gfosf f?. F/SH WMTXW'DRNEY mentado.24, 194e OFFICE MUSICAL CHIME CONSTRUCTION George R. Fish, Norwalk,Conn., asslgnor to Edwards and Company, Inc., Norwalk, Conn., acorporation of New York Application February 14, 1945, Serial No.577,819

27 Claims. l

I'his invention relates to signalling devices, and more particularly tosignals such as are employed at the front door of an apartment, ordwelling, or the like, and particularly to signalling devices that maysound one or more musical notes.

One of the objects of this invention is to provide a simple andpractical signalling device of the abovementioned character which willbe inexpensive to fabricate and which will be of reliable action inpractical use. Another object is to provide a signalling device of theabove-mentioned character which may be made up of individual, relativelysimple parts so as, in turn, to facilitate manufacture of such partsindividually and to so construct the latter as to facilitate rapid anddependable assembly. Another object is to provide an audible signallingdevice in which a sounding element may be set into vibration bymechanism which will be easy to assemble and which will require minimumadjustment or checking upon completion of assembly to achieve theintended sound emission. Another object is to carry out thislast-mentioned object in the fabrication of an audible signalling devicein which two sounding elements are to be successively struck and setinto sound-emitting vibration. Another object is, in general, to improvethe construction of audible signalling devices, particularly of the kindwhere two sounding elements are to be energized, and other objects willbe in part obvious lor in part pointed out hereinafter.

The invention, accordingly, consists in the features of construction,combinations of elements, and arrangements of parts as will be exemp'iedin the structure to be hereinafter described and Ithe scope of theapplication of which will be indicated in the following claims.

In the accompanying drawings, in which is shown illustratively one ofthe various possible embodiments of this invention,

Fig. l is a small-scale perspective View of a signailing device as itappears when mounted in position on one side of a wall, or partition, ordoor panel;

Fig. 2 is a front elevation of an actuating mechanism as it appears whenmounted on the other side of a wall, partition, door panel, or the like;

Fig. 3 is a vertical sectional view as seen along the line 3-3 of Fig.1, certain of the internal parts being shown in elevation and certainothers partially in section in order to show certain struc turalfeatures more clearly;

Fig. 4 is a vertical central sectional view as seen along the line 4-4of Fig. 3; and

Fig. 5 is a transverse sectional view as seen along the line 5-5 of Fig.3, while Fig. 6 is a fragmentary transverse sectional view as seen alongthe line 6-8 of Fig. 2, showing certain details of the actuatingmechanism of Fig. 2.

Similar reference characters refer to similar parts throughout theseveral views of the drawings.

The construction, mounting, and action of the device can best beillustrated if it is considered that the device is mounted on the frontdoor of an apartment, dwelling, or the like, it being noted that doorpanels vary in thickness, and, hence, I preferably construct the devicein the form of two units, one of which, conveniently termed thesignalling unit," and generally indicated in Fig. l by the referencecharacter I0, is mounted upon the inside face of the door panel I I, andthe other of which, conveniently termed the "actuating unit. andgenerally indicated in Figs. 2 and 5 by the reference character I2, ismounted on the outside face of the door panel II, the latter requiringonly the drilling of a hole I3 therethrough to permit free passage of anoperating shaft Il from the actuating unit on the outside to thesignalling unit I0 on the inside face of the door.

The signalling unit comprises a base I5 preferably in the form of asheet-metal stamping and peripherally flanged, as shown in Figs. 4 and5, to give it strength and to rest against the inside face of the panelII to which it may be secured, as by screws I6. The base I5 is generallyrectangular in shape, and adjacent its vertical edgesand, hence,laterally spaced from each otherare mounted two sounding elements I8 andI9 which can be of any suitable form or construction to emit suitablesound when set in vibration, and in the illustration, element-s I8 andI9 may be in the form of rectangular metal plates-sometimes called chimeplates or bars-and where they are to emit a different note, they are ofcorrespondingly different dimensions, as indicated or suggested in thedrawings. They are suitably supported, each preferably at two spacedpoints which preferably coincide with internodes, and the two supportsfor each bar preferably include a suitable yieldable material, such assoft rubber, felt. or the like. to minimize interference withsound-emitting vibration. Since the mountings are preferably identicalin construction, it will v suffice to describe only one of them indetail.

as by spot welding, indicated at 22, leaving an upstanding ear or leg2l, which has cut and bent out of its plane a leg 2i bent over at itsouter end, as is better shown in Fig. 3, thus to receive over the part2I a. washer 24 o1' rubber, felt, or the like, which, throughout itscenter or middle periphery. contains a groove into which the metal ofthe sounding element ts when, in the course of mounting, the yieldablewasher 2d is thrust through a suitable hole 2d provided in the soundingelement for that purpose.

Hence, as better appears from Figs. 3 and 5, the two sounding elementsidand i9 are positioned in parallelism, each adjacent a vertical side edgeof the'base i@ and thus providing ample space between them in which toaccomodate mechanism about to be described. Fitted over the entireassembly, and secured in any suitable way (not shown) to the base i is abox-like cover 26, which thus completes the enclosure of the soundingelements and related mechanism,

and, due to suitable apertures 2l in the longitudinal side walls andpositioned opposite the center portions of the sounding elements id andis,

the enclosure can, and docs, function as a resonator to improve thequality of sound emitted by the sounding elements.

Preferably I provide for the successive striking of the two soundingelements iii and id, and a single cycle of operations may thus comprisethe striking irst of one and then of the other sounding element. Toeiect suitable impact of a sounding element, I provide a striker,generally indicated by the reference character 29, and provide it withtwo opposed striking elements 29B and 29,

which are preferably made of a suitable wood, and arrange for theactuation of striker 29 so that striker element 29e nrst impactssounding element i8 and element 29 then impacts sounding elementIQ-each, however, in a manner to avoid damping of the vibrations of thestruck sound element, even though the striker part or parts be made tocome to rest. The striker 29 is actuated or carried by strained springmeans adapted to assume either of two conditions and to undergotransition from one to the other with a snapaction, and preferably, andillustratively, the spring means takes the form of a at or leaf spring3d, made of any suitable nat spring-steel; when made in iat or stripform, strip stock of spring material vmay be run through a simplepunch-press operation to shape, pierce, and cut o the at spring elementi3@ to give it tongues S and 30h at its respective ends and alignedalong the longitudinal center line and to give it at its midpoint a hole30 by which the mounting thereto of the striker part or parts may beeected.

The striker 29 preferably has some weight or mass to give it a suitableinertia when set into motion, and, hence, is preferably made of metal,

.conveniently in the form of two identical, cylindrical parts 29 and 29,each of which has a threaded hole extending along its axis; these partswill be seen to be capable of easy and inexpensive manufacture, as byway of a screw machine.

The parts 2S and 25d are secured each to one side or face of the datspring 30, and preferably in a manner to reinforce and strengthen thespring at its mid-point where the hole 30 is, and, conveniently, parts25 and 20d are made to function as clamping elements to tightly clampthe midportion of the iiat spring 30 bet-Wee!! them,

thus virtually precluding material ilexing along a transverse linethrough the hole 30 where, the spring 30 might otherwise be weakest. Forthis purpose I may employ a threaded headless stud or screw 8i whichpasses through the hole 30 in spring 30, and onto the ends projectingfrom either face of the spring 3 0 are threaded the parts. 20 vand 29d,each serving in eect as a nut for the other, thus clamping themidportion of the at spring 30 atwise between the adjacent flat faces oiparts 29 and 29, the diameter of which, as indicated in Fig. d, mayclosely approximate the Width of spring 30.

The threaded screw element 8i is of insuilicient length (see Fig. 3) tofully occupy the threadedv holes in the parts 20 and 20d, and into theunoccupied, opposite, end portions of these holes are threaded thestriker elements 29 and 20", which, if made of wood, need not bepreliminarily threaded, sincethe threads of the parts 25 and 29d, ineect, cut threads into the Shanks of the wooden striker elements andresult in a tight or force iit. The striker elements E and 29 are thusdependably and securely mounted, one on each side of the flat spring 30,and substantially at its midpoint.

The iiat spring t@ has its upper end, as seen in Figs. 3 and d,supported in a resilient and yieldable mounting, generally indicated asa whole by the reference character 83, and has its lower end supportedin a movable energy-transmitting mounting, generally indicated by thereference character 3Q, these mountings being constructed and spacedfrom each other in. relation to the length of the ilat spring Si@ sothat the latter, in an at-rest position, as shown in Fig. 3, is bowedand, hence, tends always to assume a straight-line shape, this' lattertendency being utilized to'hold the striker out of contact with itsnearest sounding element. Spring 30, -in thus trying to straighten out,eectively holds the striker element 20 out of engagement with soundingelement i0, and, were it bowed in reverse direction by movement of themovable mounting Sd, and allowed toassume the at-rest position, asindicated in the dotted lines A, the other striker element 29e is, bythe same tendency of the spring 30 to assume a straight-line position,held out of contact with the other sounding element i3. These respectivepositions thus insure that neither sounding element is damped afterbeing struck.

The elastic or resilient mounting 83 may be of any suitable constructionthat is capable of yielding upwardly, as viewed in Fig. 3, when thespring 30 goes through the transition from one bowed position (forexample, the full-line position B) to, and beyond, and back to, thedotted-line position A, and vice versa. Illustratively, andconveniently, the mounting 33 comprises a at spring 35, which may be ofthe same flat spring stock as is the spring 30, and it is suitablysupported at its ends equally spaced from its midpoint, at whichmidpoint it has connection with the upper end of flat spring 30 tosupport the latter. Such connection conveniently comprises a slot 35a inthe spring 35 large enough to receive, a bit loosely, the tongue 30" atthe upper end of spring 30, and preferably the tongue 30 is of suicientlength to permit interposing between the mounting spring 35 and theportions of fiat spring 30, to either side of the tongue 30, of a washer36 which is preferably non-metallic and preferably also is of anysuitable yieldable damping material, such as felt or rubber; it servesto aid the resilient action of the mounting spring 35 and makes fornoiseless action as the iiat spring 35 snaps from one bowed position tothe other, and vice versa.

Mounting spring 35 is preferably also given a resilient support from thebase AI5 of the mechanism, and conveniently I employ two mountings, oneat each end of spring 35, that are identical to the mountings orsupports 2l that support each of the sounding elements I8 and I8 and aredescribed above in detail, and, hence, these mountings or supports forspring 35 are identified by similar reference characters throughout. Asmounting spring 35 partakes of different degrees of flexing throughoutthe action of the apparatus, the rubber washers or bushings 24, whichextend through suitable holes adjacent the ends of the spring 35, yieldappropriately, portions of them being normally under some degree oi'compression, and again the action is unhampered by friction-creating ornoise-producing connections to the spring 35.

The movable mounting 34 comprises a socket to receive the lower end ofspring and, conveniently, is in the form of a U-shaped socket 38 whichmay be stamped out of sheet metal, being pierced, as at 38, to provide ahole through which the tongue 35* of spring 30 projects, the other edgeportion of spring 30 bottoming in the socket 38. The two side walls 38band 38 of socket 35 may or may not, as desired, grip the spring 30 andpreferably they are upwardly divergent, the parts 35b and 38 therebyforming in effect a twoarmed fork of which they are the two arms, asindicated in Fig. 3, thus also facilitating assembly thereto of spring30.

Mounting 34 and, hence, its socket 38 are arranged for movement,preferably in a reversible direction, so as to stress the spring 30 in amanner to cause it to snap from one bowed condition into reverse-bowedcondition. For example, a transverse movement (as viewed in Fig. 3) or arotary twisting movement applied to the lower end of the spring may beemployed for this purpose, and ln the illustrative embodiment I haveshown an arrangement for utilizing both transverse motion of translationand a twisting motion as about a pivot; this I may achieve by causingthe movement of socket 38 to take place along an arc of substantialradius.

Thus, the socket 38 may be secured to or formed integrally with asheet-metal rocker 39 which is shaped or stamped to providediametrically opposed arms 4I and 42 for a purpose later described, andsuitable means are provided for rotatably supporting rocker 38, such asa hub 43, which may be at its right-hand end (Fig. 4) of reduceddiameter to extend through a suitable hole in the rocker 39, the latterbeing rigidly secured thereto in any suitable manner, as by brazing,welding, or the like. Through the hub 43 extends a trunnion-formingmember 44, preferably in the form of a tube, and secured thereto in anysuitable way, as by a force iit, brazing, or the like. The tube 44projects beyond the two ends of the hub 43, thus to provide trunnions,one of which-is rotatably supported in a hole I5 in the base plate I5and the other of which is rotatably supported in a hole in a bracket 45shaped as shown in'Figs. 3 and 4 and provided with a base portion 45that rests atwise against the base plate I5 and is secured thereto inany suitable way.

Preferably base plate I5 is provided with spaced holes I5 and I5 (Fig.3) to receive ears 45h and 45 which are integral with the base portion45 and bent rearwardly; these parts may thus function, after the hub 43with its rocker 38 is assembled to the back plate I5 by inserting theleft trunnion of tube 44 through the hole I5", accurately to locate orposition the bracket 45 as the latter is related to the right-handtrunnion of the tube 44, whence the base portion 45 is secured to theback plate I5, as by bending the ears 46b and 45 inwardly toward eachother and against the rear face of the back plate I5. Preferably, also,one of the screws I5 that secures the device to the inside face of thepanel II, passes through registering holes in the base portion 45 and inthe back plate I5 (see Figs. 3 and 4), thus making for better securityof assembly and mounting.

The left end of trunnion tube 44 (Fig. 4) has an end wall 44a which hasa square hole 44b to receive the operating shaft I4, which is alsosquare in cross-section, thus forming a dependable driving connectiontherebetween so that rotary movement given the drive shaft I4 istransmitted to the rocker 38 and socket 38.

The actuating unit I2 (Figs. 2 and 5) may take any suitable form to givethe shaft or rod I4 the desiredl rotary movement, and preferably it isconstructed to simulate in appearance a door knocker, and thus it mayhave a suitable escutcheon or base plate 48 secured to the panel I I, asby screws 49, and having pivotally mounted thereon a suitable arm orlever 50 provided with a finger or hand grip 50a of suitableconfiguration. The arm 50 may, therefore, be swung toward or away fromthe plate 48, and its movement about its pivot is arranged to beconverted into rotary movement of the shaft I4.

Thus, for example, the square shaft or rod I4 (Fig. 5) may be turneddown, as at I4, to provide a trunnion which is rotatably supported in ahole 48a in the base plate 48, and to the projecting portion of thetrunnion I4a is secured, as by a pin (not shown), a miter or bevel gear5I, the gear 5I and the shoulder at the righthand end of trunnion I4aholding the rod I4 assembled to the base plate 48 and holding it againstaxial displacement.

Projecting from the base plate 48, and integrally formed therewith, aretwo spaced ears or lugs 52 and 53, provided with holes to take a pivotpin or screw 54, and the under side of the upper end of the arm 50 isshaped, as by casting, stamping, milling, or the like, to provide twospaced ears 5I)b and 55, also having holes therein for the pin 54, andbetween which are the ears 52 and 53 of the base plate 48, thuscompleting :181e pivotal connection between the parts 50 and jectingpart 5I!cl of the arm 50, and, in clockwise direction, by the upper endportion 50e, these parts coming into engagement with the mountf 7 ingplate Il according to the direction in which the arm 50 is swung.

The ratio of drive between segment 55 and gear i is such that thedesired amount of limited swing of member 50 gives the shaft i4, andhence the rocker 39, a sulcient swing, Illustratively,

on the order of 60 degrees, to shift the movable support; 34 to eilecttransition of the spring 8u from one bowed condition to a condition inwhich the bowing is reversed, as is later described. Preferablyprovision is made to eiiect return swing of the actuating arm t@ uponcompletion of its manual movement in one direction throughout itslimited range, and for this purpose I preferably employ a spring et(Fig. 3) one end of which is connected to rocker arm di, which may bebent inwardly, as at die, for that purpose, and the other end of whichis anchored to a lug de@ that is struck up out of the back plate l5.Spring 5@ is normally under tension to hold rocker 39 in the full-lineposition shown in Fig. 3, and, through the shaft ill and the gearing 5land E5, spring 5@ thus holds the actuating lever 5@ (Fig. 5) in theposition shown, and thus part 'dud can function to limit the extent towhich 'spring 56 (Fig. 3) can swing the rocker in clockwise direction.This action may be supple mented by a lug 115i struck up out of the backplate i5 and positioned to be engaged by the lug tss which is formed bybending a portion of the rocker arm i2 rearwardly.

Swinging of the actuating lever 5@ (Fig. 5) in clockwise direction tothe extent limited by the part 5de thus can give the rocker Se themaximum amount of swing in counter-clockwise direction (Fig. 3), thus toswing the combined forklike arms Seb and 35e and socket support 38 fromthe right-hand side of the axis of rocker 3d to the left-hand sidethereof, and thus, also, further tensioning, or storing energy in, thespring 5t, so that release of the actuating lever 5@ permits the spring5e to expend its stored energy and restore the parts to normal orstarting position.

Companion to the lug lef is a lug idg, also formed by striking up aportion of the metal of the back plate d5, and spaced about 60 degreesfrom the lug idf. These lugs i5! and l5? serve to facilitate assembly ofthe mechanism in course of fabrication and to prevent disarrangement ofthe parts during shipment and also during the steps of assembling theactuating unit and the signalling unit to the respective sides of thedoor parel and to each other. For example, the lug i5! prevents thespring 56 from continuing rotary movement of the rocker 39 and socket 33in clockwise direction to an extent that can withdraw the upper endtongue 30h from its retaining resilient support; with both lugs lef andlg, also, the flat spring 3Q, with its striker 29, may be assembled toboth of its end supports, whether or not spring 5t is iirst put inposition, for unintentional or accidental rotary movement of rocker 3@in either direction and suicient to cause withdrawal of the upper end ofthe spring from its mounting cannot, therefore, take place. Also, theserelationships facilitate assembly of the shaft le from the other side ofthe door panel to the bearing and driving shaft de, for the square holein the latter is thereby heldin proper relation to receive the squareshaft when the lever 5d is in its starting or normal position. Where thedoor panel li is thinner than that shown, the driving connection betweenthe square shaft le and the driving tube 44 is still maintained, the twoparte 8 l being telescopically related and any surplus length of shaftprojects into the bearing tube M and may project beyond that to theextent of the front wall of the cover 26.

Because of the tendency of the at spring 30 to straighten out (Fig. 3),its lowerend portion engages the wall 38 of the socket 38 and tends vtoapply a turning torque in counter-clockwise direction t0 the rocker 39,against the tension of vthe spring E6, and its upper end exerts forceagainst the at spring-35, tending to bow it, the various parts assumingthe full-line position shown in Fig. 3. As the rocker 39 is swungcounter-clockwise by the drive shaft i4, the right-hand wall 3BG ofsocket 3d is pivoted into engagement with the lower portion of springBti, that lower end of the 'spring also moving upwardly and to the leftin an arc, thus shortening the distance between the end supports ofspring 30 and also bowing the upper supporting spring 35 still more,and, in eect, storing energy in both spring 38 and spring 35. Shortlyafter the socket 38 passes to the left o dead-center, spring 3@ assumesa shape somewhat as indicated in broken line C, whence the energy storedin the two springs Bil and 35 is about ready to be released, spring 3@quickly snapping into the bowed shape indicated. at A, whence, aided bythe inertia or energy of movement of the relatively heavy striker 2Q andaided by the tendency of supporting spring 35 to straighten out, thespring d@ is bowed to the left beyond the position A and the strikerelement 29a is, with substantial velocity, impacted against the soundingelement id-all before the rocker arm e2 reaches the lug [(58. Thisspeedy bowing beyond the position A is facilitated by vthe leewayallowed between the fork-like arms Seb and 38C of the socket 88, theright-hand arm 386 being in a pushing contact with the lower portion ofspring 3i). Having struck the sounding element it, the striker 29 startsa rebound, aided by the tendency of spring 3d to again straighten out,and which tendency always acts in a direction to hold the striker awayfrom the sounding element, or vice versa, so that damping of itsvibrations does not take place.

' Should the actuating lever 5t be released upon the completion, or justprior to the completion, of its clockwise stroke, the energy stored inthe spring 56 commences a reverse rotary movement of rocker 39 and alsoof drive shaft lll, and hence commences a return drive of the actuatinglever 5G to normal or starting position; the socket support 38 nowswings upwardly and to the right in an arc to start the bowing of thespring 3G in reverse direction, that is, from the shape or position A tothe shape or position B. During this action, the left-hand arm 38h is inpushing contact with the lower portion of the spring 30. Just prior tothe rocker arm l2 reaching the lug lf, and somewhat after the socket 38has passed over dead-center, the spring 38, aided' by thestraightening-out tendency of support spring 35, snaps into a bowedshape beyond (to the right) the full-line position B, aided by theenergy of movement or inertia communicated to the relatively heavystriker 29, thus giving the other sounding element i9 a high velocity orsharp blow from which the striker rebounds, aided in the rebound by thetendency of spring .it to assume a straight-line relation. Under theeiect of spring 56, rocker'arm 42 thereafter and ultimately reaches thelug H51, as does also the part bild of the actuating lever 5l) reach themountf ing plate 48 of the actuating unit.

It will be seen that the parts are so proportioned and interrelated thatthe spring Il, disregardlng for the moment the effect of spring 3l,assumes a normal bowed position, either A or B, in which the strikerfalls short of engagement with a sounding element and in which .thetendency of the spring. 30 itself, through either wall portion 38b orwall portion 38 of socket 38, controis or determines the correspondingrotary position of the rocker 39, and thus damping action on the chimebars is dependably precluded; the spring 30, in either position A or B,thus coacts, due to the kind of connection it has with the rocker 39,with either wall 38c or 38b to limit its own bowing beyond theserespective positions, excepting as the momentum of the striker and thefollow-up action of spring 33 carries the bowing of the spring beyondeither of these positions for the purpose of striking a soundingelement, the rebound, plus -the yielding of the spring 33 and Itheyielding connection Itherewith of the upper end of the spring 3D,insuring quick withdrawal of the striker from the stricken vibratingelement so as not to damp its vibration. Thus dependable musical actionmay be achieved.

The construction will be seen to be simple and inexpensive Ito fabricateand simple and easy to install, .the actuating unit being easily mountedon the outside of the partition or panel II and the signalling unitbeing readily mounted on the opposite face, interconnection beingeffected .through the shaft I4 of the actuating unit which passesthrough a hole I3 easily drilled through the partition (Fig. 5); asbetter appear in Figs. 4 and 5, the apparatus will be seen to be readilyaccommodated to panels or partitions of different thicknesses, thetelescopic relation between the shaft I 4 and the part 44 permittingwide variation of the spacing between the two units, and the space tothe right (in Fig. 4) of the sleeve 44 being unobstructed so that asubstantial portion of the shaft I4 may project thereinto inthe eventthat the panel I I is very thin.

It will thus be seen that there has been provided in this invention asignalling device in which the various objects above noted, togetherwith many thoroughly practical advantages, are successfully achieved.

As many possible embodiments may be made of the above invention and asmany changes might be made in the embodiment above set forth, it is tobe understood that all matter hereinbefore set forth or shown in theaccompanying drawings is to be interpreted as illustrative and not in alimiting sense.

I claim:

1. A signalling device having spaced sounding elements, striker meanstherefor, means mounting said striker means between said soundingelements for movement in directions first to strike one element and thenthe other, said mounting means comprising a flat spring supporting saidstriker means substantially at its midpoint and two spaced mountingssupporting said spring at its ends and spaced apart by a distanceshorter than the length of the spring whereby the spring is bowed, and arocker carrying one of said mountings to move it and the spring endsupported by it substantially in an arc and thereby increase the bowingof the spring and flex the end of the spring in a direction to reverseits bowed position and cause said striker means to be suddenly impactedagainst a sounding element.

2. A signalling device as claimed in claim 1, in which the mounting forthe other end of .the flat 10 spring comprises resilient means thatyields upon said rocker being actuated in a direction to increase thebowing of the spring and thereby has energy stored in it whereby saidresilient means adds force to the impact or said striker means.

3. A signallingdevice as claimed in claim 1, in which the mountingcarried by said rocker has a mechanical, reversibly-acting connectionwith .the end of the spring supported thereby whereby either maytransmit turning torque .to the other, the transmission of turningtorqueby the rocker to the spring end being eective to flex the spring end asaforesaid, and the spring, upon comple- .tion of the impact, assumes abowed at-rest position and 'said connection acts to tend to hold saidrocker in a position dependent upon the bend in the spring due to saidat-rest bowed position.

4. A signalling device asl claimed in claim l, in which one of saidmountings for the spring ends comprises socket-like means providing atleast two spaced elements between which the spring end is received.

5. A signalling device asv claimed in claim 1, in which the spring lendsand said mountings therefor have respective coacting parts formingdetachable connections.

6. A device as claimed in claim l, in which the mounting carried by saidrocker comprises two elements spacedvapart by a distance greater thanthe thickness of the spring end for engagement therewith, respectively,at the beginning and end of a working stroke of said rocker.

7. A signalling device as claimed in claim l, in which the mounting forthe other end of the said spring comprises cushioning means and springvmeans supporting said cushioning means and yieldable as Said rockeroperates upon said spring.

8. A signalling device having spaced sounding elements, striker meanstherefor, means mounting said striker means between said soundingelements for movement in directions first to strike one element and thenthe other, said mounting means comprising a fiat spring supporting saidstriker means substantially at its midpoint and two spaced mountingssupporting said spring at its ends and spaced apart by a distanceshorter than the length of the spring whereby the spring is bowed in adirection to position the striker adjacent to but out of contact withone of said sounding elements, and reversibly-acting means operatingupon one of said spring end mountings Ito ex the spring end supportedthereby in 0pposite direction and thereby reverse the bowing of thespring and effect impact of said'striker means against the othersounding element.

9. A signalling device having spaced sounding elements, striker meanstherefor, means mounting said striker means between said soundingelements for movement in directions first to strike one element and thenthe other, said mounting means comprising a flat spring supporting saidstriker means substantially at its m dpoint and two spaced mountingssupporting said spring at its ends and spaced apart by a distanceshorter than the length of the spring whereby the spring is bowed in adirection to,l position the striker means at one of said soundingelements and spaced away from the other, and reversibly-acting meansoperating upon one of said mountings to move it in a direction to stresssaid spring to reverse its bowed position with substantially a snapaction and thereby impact said other sounding element.

10. A signalling device comprising two spaced sounding elements, a bowedspring-having spaced supports by which said spring is supported in bowedcondition, reversibly-acting means coacting with said spring and adaptedupon actuation to reverse the bowing of the spring, and striker meansactuated'by said spring and, in response to reversals in bowing thereof,to impact said sounding elements.

11. A signalling-device comprising a sounding element, a at springcarrying a striker substantially at its midpoint, two spaced supportsfor the vends of said spring,- one of which supports comprises twospaced members between which the spring end is received, and meansmounting said one support for reversible movement in substantially anarc and thereby vary the distance of said support from the othersupport, said spring being bowed either toward or away from saidsounding element according to the direction of movement of said onesupport along said arc and coacting through said spaced members tosubstantially limit movement of said one support along said arc.

12. A signalling device comprising a sounding element, a at springcarrying a striker substantially at its midpoint, two spaced supportsfor the ends of said spring, one of which supports comprises two spacedmembers between which the spring end is received, means mounting saidone support for reversible movement in substantially an arc andthereby-vary the distance of said support from the other support, saidspring being bowed either toward or away from said sounding elementaccording to the direction of movement of said one support along saidarc and coasting through said spaced members to substantially limitmovement of said one support along said arc, the length of said springand the spacing between said supports when the spring is bowed towardthe sounding element being proportioned so that said striker is adjacentsaid sounding element but out of contact therewith, and means whereby,when said movable support eiects transition of said spring to bow ittoward the sounding element, said striker is carried beyond saidout-of-contact position to impact the sounding element and'immediatelyafter impact assumes said out-of-contact position.

13. A signalling device as claimed in claim 12, in which saidlast-mentioned means comprises means resiliently mounting one of thesupports of said spring whereby said support follows up the spring endsupported by it when the spring bows beyond said out-of-contact4position in impacting said sounding element.

14. A signalling device as claimed in claim 12, in which saidlast-mentioned means comprises means of substantial weight carriedsubstantially a1; the midpoint of said spring to be given sucientinertia to bow the spring beyond said out-ofcontact position on theimpacting stroke of the striker.

15. A signalling device comprising a sounding element, a bowed springhaving spaced supports by which said spring is supported in bowedcondition, means for applying force to said spring to cause it toreverse its direction of bowing, and striker means actuatedby saidspring to strike said sounding element.

16. A signalling device comprising two spaced sounding elements, aspring capable of being reversibly bowed, spaced supports by which saidspring is supported in bowed condition, one of said supports havingresilient means mounting it for yieldable movement toward or away fromthe l2 other support, reversible means coacting upon actuation toreverse the bowing of the spring, and striker means operating inresponse to reversals in bowing of said spring to impact said soundingelements.

17. A signalling device comprising two spaced sounding elements, aspring capable of being reversibly bowed, spaced supportsby which saidspring is supported in bowed condition, means operating upon said springthrough one of said supports to strain the spring to effect reversal ofits bowing, and striker means inpacting said sounding elements inresponse to reversals in bowing of said spring.

18. A signalling device comprising two spaced sounding elements, aspring capable of being reversibly bowed, spaced supports by which saidspring is supported in bowed condition, one of said supports beingmovable and being constructed and operating in response to'movementthereof to apply a flexing force to the spring, means mounting saidmovable support for movement in successive reversed strokes, and strikermeans impacting said sounding elementsin response to bowing of saidspring.

19. A signalling device for mounting on a panel, wall, or the like,comprising a signalling unit adapted to be mounted on one face of thepanel and having a sounding element and striker means therefor and meansincluding a rotary element for actuating said striker means, and anactuating unit adapted to be mounted on the other side of the panel andcomprising a support having pivotally mounted thereon a lever formovement toward or away from the support, a rotary shaft having abearing in said support and extending rearwardly therefrom and adaptedto pass through a hole in said panel for coaction with said rotaryelement, said shaft having a gear-like member exposed between said baseand said lever and said lever having a rack for actuating said gear-likemember.

l2.0. A signalling device having spaced sounding elements, striker meanstherefor, means mountingsaid striker means between said soundingelements for movement in directions rst to strike one element and thenthe other, said mounting means comprising a at spring supporting saidstriker means substantially at its midpoint and two spaced mountingssupporting said spring at its ends and spaced apart by a distanceshorter than the length of the spring whereby the spring is bowed in adirection to position the striker means at one of said sounding elementsand spaced away from the other, and means reversibly moveable in adirection substantially transverse to a line connecting said two spacedmountings for applying force to said spring to stress the spring toreverse its bowed position with substantially a snap action and therebyimpact said other sounding element.

21. A signalling device comprising two spaced sounding elements, a bowedspring having spaced supports by which said spring is supported in bowedcondition, means reversibly moveable in a direction substantiallytransversely of a line joining said spaced supports for stressing saidspring out of its bowed condition and thereby reverse the bowing of saidspring, and striker means actuated by said spring and, in response toreversals in bowing thereof, to impact saidsounding elements.

22. A signalling device comprising two spaced sounding elements, a bowedspring having spaced supports by which said spring is supported inangers `13 bowed condition, a reversibly actuatable rocker having twospaced elements alternatively engageable with said spring to stress itout of bowed condition and thereby reverse the bowing of the spring. andstriker means actuated by said spring.

and, in response to reversals in bowing thereof, to impact said soundingelements.

23. A signalling device comprising two spaced sounding elements, a bowedspring having spaced supports by which said spring is supported in bowedcondition, a member for applying torce to the convex side of the bowedspring to strain the spring to `assume a reversed bowed condition, amember for applying force to the convex side oi' the spring when inreverse bowed condition to strain the spring to assume its initial bowedcondition, means moveably mounting said two members and for actuatingthem successively in spring-straining direction, and striker meansactuated by said spring and, in response to reversals in bowing thereof,to impact said sounding elements.

24. A signalling device as claimed in claim 16 in which said reversiblemeans comprises means for applying, at spaced points lengthwise of saidspring, forces acting in substantially opposite directions to therebytwist the spring in a direction to reverse its bowed condition.

25. A signalling device comprising two spaced sounding elements, aspring capable of being reversibly bowed, spaced supports by which saidspring is supported in bowed condition, one of said supports havingresilient means mounting it for yieldable movement toward or away fromthe other support, reversible means coacting upon actuation to applyforce to the bowed spring on the convex side thereof to stress it toreverse the bowing of the spring, and ing in response to reversals inbowing of said spring to impact said sounding elements.

26. A signalling device vas claimed in claim 15 in which saidforce-applying means comprises means for applying a spring-ilexing forceto the spring to iiex it in a direction to reverse its direction oibowing with a snap action and means operating to apply a force ofcompression to the spring in the direction of its length to increase thesnap action with which the spring reverses its direction of bowing.

27. A signalling device as claimed in claim l5 in which saidiorce-applyingmeans comprises a fork-like means having two spaced armsbetween which said spring extends and means movably mounting saidfork-like means for movement in reversible strokes in a directionsubstantially transversely of a line joining said spaced supports foreffecting successive reversals in the direction of bowing of saidspring.

GEORGE R. FISH.

striker means operatt

